AUTHOR=Guo Suyu , Chen Dongmei , Chen Jiawei , Zhu Canhong , Huang Li , Chen Zhengrong 

TITLE=Relationship between meteorological and environmental factors and acute exacerbation for pediatric bronchial asthma: Comparative study before and after COVID-19 in Suzhou

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1090474

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1090474

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Objective: Climate and environmental change is a well-known factor causing bronchial asthma in children. After the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), climate and environmental changes have occurred. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between climate changes (meteorological and environmental factors) and the number of hospitalizations for pediatric bronchial asthma in Suzhou before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data of daily inpatients diagnosed with bronchial asthma in Children's Hospital of Soochow University from 2017 to 2021 were collected. Daily meteorological and environmental data were recorded from Suzhou Meteorological and Environmental Protection Bureau. Partial correlation and multiple stepwise regression analyses were performed to evaluate the relationship between bronchial asthma–related hospitalizations and meteorological and environmental factors. The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model was used to estimate the effects of meteorological and environmental variables on bronchial asthma development in children. Results: After the COVID-19 outbreak, both the rate of acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma and the infection rate of pathogenic respiratory syncytial virus decreased, whereas the proportion of school-aged children and the infection rate of human rhinovirus increased. After the pandemic, the incidence of acute asthma attack was negatively correlated with monthly mean temperature and positively correlated with PM2.5. Stepwise regression analysis showed that monthly mean temperature and O3 were independent covariates (risk factors) for the rate of acute exacerbations of asthma. The ARIMA(1,0,0)(0,0,0)12 model can be used to predict temperature changes associated with bronchial asthma. Conclusion: Meteorological and environmental factors are related to bronchial asthma development in children. The influence of meteorological and environmental factors on bronchial asthma may be helpful in predicting the incidence and attack rates of the disease.